Going too far

OK, we get it. Many people across the country blame the Republican Party for the recent government shutdown. Frustrated Americans like to assess blame to someone in particular, and the GOP seems to be the target for this latest showdown in Congress.

More specifically, the target appears to be the tea party movement, a group that arose several years ago with what some consider to be an extremist conservative view on government and public policy.

Just as "liberal" became a bad word in the 1980s, "tea party" took on a new, not-so-nice meaning since the latter half of the last decade.

While people certainly are entitled to their opinion on the tea party movement, there is a point at which criticism goes too far. A recent example comes from the campaign of Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, who sent an email blasting the tea party and its followers. That's certainly allowed in a campaign, but Grayson went too far by using a photo of a burning cross as the "T" in tea party in the email, complete with Ku Klux Klan members in the background.

The connotation is any member of the tea party is a racist. And while that may be true of some people - it doesn't take long to see racial slurs in relation to the president with an Internet search - it is clearly not true of all members of the movement.

There are at least two organizations that far too many people try to equate to current-day opponents. And both organizations are so egregious in their actions that it's very disturbing to use them in any context today. They are the KKK and Nazis.

Both organizations have stood for discrimination and bloodshed in the past - the KKK in the racist U.S. South in the post-Civil War era, and the Nazis, who killed millions of Jews and others based solely on their ethnicity.

For some reason, people trying to make an argument use these examples in describing opponents, no doubt to vilify the person or group and to provide a picture of that person or group as being evil or at least backward. In reality, comparisons to those organizations have no place in debate.

In both cases, people died at the hands of a cruel, dominating group. To equate anyone to these organizations shows a lack of an argument, not a strong, well-reasoned point for debate.

This case involves a Democrat attacking Republicans. Of course, there are examples on the other side of the aisle as well.

The point is politicians would be serving the people in a far better capacity if the creativity and thought that went into their slams on the opposing party were channeled in some way to actually addressing the problems faced by our nation today.

Grayson went too far this time. Hopefully, members of Congress will show an all-too-rare ability to learn from his mistake and not make similar ones again.

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Going too far

OK, we get it. Many people across the country blame the Republican Party for the recent government shutdown. Frustrated Americans like to assess blame to someone in particular, and the GOP seems to